There are a variety of scenarios in which it is desirable to control the manner in which power is provided to an electronic device. For example, in a data center, it may become necessary to shut off and then restore power to a network switch or other data center device when such device locks up, in order to reset it. Given the relatively large size of many conventional data centers, it is typically not feasible to require data center personnel to manually reset data center devices (e.g., by pressing a reset button on the device).
As another example, in an enterprise scenario, it may become necessary to shut off and then restore power to certain malfunctioning office equipment, such as routers, computers, and printers, in order to reset the equipment. The equipment to be reset may not be easily accessible, making a manual reset difficult or even impossible. For example, the equipment may be located relatively far away from the user seeking to reset the equipment or in an area of the office to which the user does not have access. As another example, it may be late at night or on a weekend, and no personnel may be present on site to manually reset the equipment.
In a home scenario, it may become necessary to shut off and then restore power to certain malfunctioning devices, such as set-top boxes, routers, and computers, in order to reset those devices. If the equipment is located in a different part of the home than the user, manually resetting the devices may be inconvenient for the user. If the user is away from home, then there may be nobody available to reset the devices.
In still other scenarios, it may become necessary to shut off and/or restore power to equipment or devices that are located in an environment that is uncomfortable or dangerous for a person to enter.